A total of 18.4 kilometers of Davao City’s watershed perimeter were delineated this November in a five-day survey which covered four barangays.
According to Edgar Barquin of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources Region 11 (DENR 11) and team leader of the 11-man delineation team, the survey covered the barangays of Tambobong, Tamugan, Gumalang and Wines in Calinan District.
He said that the 18.4 kilometers of delineated perimeter (72 corner monuments) are geo tagged, which meant that the monuments are photographed and tagged via Global Positioning System or GPS. The total areas to be delineated still amounts to 507 kilometers. Barquin estimates the actual survey of the whole length of the watershed to take 100 days.
The delineation team is led by personnel from the DENR and the Watershed Management Council and based on the Watershed Code of Davao City requires the demarcation of the city’s watershed areas.
Barquin said they prioritized the delineation of the Tamugan River since it is a sensitive and critical area.
Areas within the perimeter will be subject for conservation purposes and any private development should submit a comprehensive development plan and mostly which are pro-environmental projects like tree planting activities.
Barquin said that these areas are considered by the Mines and Geosciences Bureau as critical geo-hazard areas, he said that there are no considerable population within the identified perimeter as residents living near the area said that the path of the Tamugan River is changing. At present some of the area are corn fields and coffee farms.
However Barquin said that the delineation team must properly explain to the residents and to the farmers of the area the nature of the survey particularly the placement of monuments as many of these farmers have not yet attended or were reached by their IEC (Information Education Communication) campaigns. [PIA 11/RG Alama]
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